


Mementos

by petiteneko



Series: 10 Days of lawlu 2019 [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Coping, Doubt, Fear, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-05-01 19:44:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19184389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petiteneko/pseuds/petiteneko
Summary: If only Law had known just how important Luffy would have become, then he would not be facing this dilemma.





	Mementos

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna give a big thank you to oturai and plume8now for their help on this story. I hit quite a few snags, but eventually pushed on through. I cut this story into two chapters because it's already at 1.8k and I'm still a bit away from the end.
> 
> This is for the 10 days of lawlu, prompt: mementos. :3

_A feather, black as night, encased in glass._

It was a smile that Law woke up to. A smile and an irritating, grating voice, dragging him out of bed and off towards an 'adventure'. Apparently Nami had found an island and his allies were set on exploring it. And just who did they have to drag along with them?

Him. Him of course.

"It'll be fun," he said, "com'on, Torao."

So, journey they went, to an uninhabited island filled with insects and creatures. And, considering just _who_ he was with, Law considered it to be a miracle with how uneventful it was.

_Two stuffed toys sitting side by side: a penguin and a killer whale, their black and white colours complementing one another._

Because with his _idiotic_ allies, trouble tended to follow. Chaos in some shape or form. But the only chaos was in the form of a post-adventure party, bonfire ablaze, song and dance echoing out into the night sky.

"Come dance, Torao!"

Law could only shake his head. No. Not right now. (Or at least, not this sober, anyway.)

So he settled on watching his allies and crew dance and party together, content enough at least. Certainly, he would prefer to be elsewhere, to have not been pulled out of bed just moments (or it seemed) after he had finally fallen asleep, but Law supposed this was his life, with allies like these.

_An inky paw print on an orange background, framed with white tufts of fur._

"You look tired, Torao. I'm sorry for waking you up."

\--Luffy had the tendency to be observant at the oddest of times. Law merely shrugged at the apology - he was so accustomed to them after all.

But, Luffy didn't move away. No, he stood there, his strawhat illuminated by the bonfire behind him, this worried expression on his face.

_A strip of white fur, speckled with black spots of various sizes._

"But, let's go Torao. It'll be fun. Please?"

Law looked at his surroundings. At the chaos his life had become. And then, then Law looked at the reason why it had. Why his life was chaos, and suddenly, he had a sinking realization.

"Mugi-" He stuttered, his hands reaching up to that strawhat subconsciously. _Just one strand…_ He found himself thinking.

But, Luffy took his hand in his, that damned smile on his face, mistaking his outreached hand as accepting his offer and he pulled him onto his feet.

"Torao's gunna dance!" He screamed out.

God. Damn. Idiot!

.xxx.

_A splintered piece of wood from a glider, splattered with blood and singed with soot._

Watching Luffy was definitely safer than interacting with him. And watch Law did. Watch as his _crazy_ ally do _crazy_ things. Especially when he would take interest in his sharp-shooter’s inventions.

(Inventors were dangerous people, and their inventions even more so. Law knew this by experience.)

Thankfully, it seemed that Usopp leaned more towards useless than insane when it came to his inventions - always ensuring not to put himself, or his consumers at risk with them.

So, at the very least, Law knew he could relax a little at that.

_A yellow ribbon, smudged with gunpowder and well-worn around the edges…_

“Ne, ne Usopp, is there anything I can do to help?”

Even when his idiotic, crazy ally decided he would _help_ with said inventions. But, Law could only roll his eyes and smile. Luffy was that type of person though. Would always help those he considered _nakama._

(And, again, that unease reared its ugly head as he stared at Luffy.)

_A small vial containing a heavy, white, innocuous looking powder._

Because Law could only see, see that scar that Luffy displayed so openly. See just how _human_ Luffy was. (How could he forget? It was _his_ hands that put him back together again…) See how close to _death_ Luffy had been.

“Torao?”

That smiling face turned towards him, a bit of worry on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

Law shook his head. “It’s alright.” He said, but felt as his arm twitched. Twitched to move back up as it did the other day when he had been tempted - _too_ tempted to grab a piece of his strawhat, or a strand of his hair. (And if Law had known just how much Luffy would have mattered to him, he would have taken some straws all of those years ago, when he had held that hat as they waited for him to open his eyes and scream Ace’s name to the world.) He held down his arm with his other hand.

Luffy made a face at him.

_A metal shackle, broken and rendered useless._

“You’re lying.” He pressed on. Why? Why was Luffy so god damned persistent? Why did he want to help him? So _loyal_ to a fucking tee because he didn’t want to see his ally hurt or bothered.

“It’s none of your business.” He mumbled. When that, too, was a complete and utter lie. It was _entirely_ Luffy’s business. It was _because_ of Luffy.

But, this? It wasn't something Law _could_ voice. It wasn't something that he _**wanted**_ to voice. With Cora-san, he just snatched a few feathers without even asking. He didn't even need to ask for Penguin and Shachi, and instead he showed them as a serious question disguised as a joking jibe on their names. And, by the time he had Bepo's, well Law had enough courage to ask for it. Lami's memento had been the brim of the hat she had given him all of those years ago, with that smile on her face. Volff's was easy enough, for when they had been cleaning up the site as the old man recovered, Law just slipped a piece of the glider into his pocket with none the wiser. With Baby 5, it was so easy to ask her; she didn't ask questions as long as it could help the other. (It had been one of the only requests Law had asked of the girl.) And, his crew had not asked any questions when Law had returned to Flevance to obtain a small vial of Amber Lead. ("So I don't forget where I came from", was his excuse. And, it was partially true as well.) Law had an item for each member of his crew, too, with Jean Bart's old shackle being his newest addition to that collection.

And, until now, did Law think his collection of _mementos_ complete. (Well, aside from the items that Sengoku had unintentionally added to with his own gifts…) That Law had an item for every important person in his life; a something to remember them by. (Because, that was what was bound to happen. Everybody important to him always left him, sooner or later. That was his fate in life, and Law did not want to have only memories. He wanted - **needed** \- something tangible to remember them by. Flevance had taken so much from him, and all he had was the brim of a hat and some poisonous metal in a tube to remember an entire country of people, his friends, his **family** and it was not nearly enough.)

But then, **Luffy** happened. Luffy and his smiles. Luffy and his idiocy. Luffy and his apologies. Luffy and his fun. Luffy and his craziness. Luffy and his helpfulness. Luffy and his penchant for death. Luffy and his loyalty.

And Law - he had absolutely _nothing_ to remember this smiling, idiotic, apologetic, fun, crazy, helpful, reckless, loyal ally by.

Because Luffy, he had somehow crept into Laws heart. Luffy **mattered** to him. And yet… if Law even dared to whisper such a request…

"...If you don't want to talk about it… fine."

_The third, and most unusual vivre-card he has received, accompanied by a pin of a seagull._

...And, there it was again. Luffy showing yet another trait of those that mattered to him: respect.

(Of course, even though Luffy was respecting him, Law could see the pout on his lips. Could see the displeasure. Luffy just wanted to help him, but he wouldn't force him either.)

Yet, just _how_ Law even breach the issue at hand? He couldn't just say: I want something for when you inevitably die, so I can remember you. No, that was… it was insulting him. Because Luffy was a capable man. He defeated Doflamingo for crying out loud! And… not only that but… asking for something… it was admitting a weakness of his. It was baring a deep, dark secret of his out into the open. It made him feel vulnerable. Weak. Because… what grown man needed a physical representation of those that mattered to him?

Law didn't want Luffy to feel he was doubting him, and yet, at the same time, Law did not want to admit to one of his greatest fears either.

But, Law could only keep staring at that strawhat. Keep wishing that he never did return it to his ally all those years ago, or at the very least, taken a few strands for himself. To perhaps made a small braid of them and lock them away with the rest of his collection. (And maybe, put it next to Cora-san, because the two of them were so much alike…) But, Law didn't know back then - how could he? (Die. He was supposed to die, and then mementos would not matter because he would be gone. Free from this curse that had been laid upon him.)

And then, that strawhat it moved. It lifted off of those messy, black locks and moved over towards him.

"...You keep looking at my hat, Torao. Did you want to wear it for awhile? Will it make you feel better?"

Luffy's words, they hurt. Hurt because they hit so close to home and yet were still so far away.

"...I don't want to _wear_ it." And, he found himself wincing at the accidental emphasis on the word. 

Luffy frowned, bring the hat close to his own chest, hugging it softly. "If I could, I'd give it to you… but I promised Shanks. Is… is that what you want, Torao?"

Law shuffled his feet, held onto his arm and looked away. "Ah…" He closed his eyes, trying to find a way out of this, or at least, a way that would not hurt Luffy's feelings, would not leave him feeling so exposed and raw.

"It… doesn't _have_ to be your hat, Mugiwara-ya."

Hopefully, Luffy wouldn't press. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask why. Hopefully Luffy would…

"Ah. Okay, Torao."

He was smiling.

"I'll find you something, okay? Don't worry about it, shishishi."

Law could only quietly stare as the other bounced off.

...Well, that went easier than he had expected it to.


End file.
